1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to injector type cooling towers in which a liquid to be cooled is sprayed into a conduit to induce air flow through the conduit along with the liquid. These devices are sometimes called ejector type cooling towers. More specifically, the invention is concerned with novel arrangements for increasing air flow through the conduit, thus improving performance by having improved heat rejection and lower water temperatures.
The novel arrangements of this invention consist of opening part of the roof or sides of an injector type cooling unit, and installing a mist eliminator section over the hole. This will improve the tower performance by increasing the airflow through the unit. The airflow is increased because a portion of the exhaust air will pass out through the holes or slots. This increased airflow will result in improved heat rejection and lower water temperatures of the cooling unit.
2. Description of the known Prior Art
Injector type cooling towers in which the present invention may be used are shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,807,145 which issued Apr. 30, 1974. As shown therein, water to be cooled is sprayed via a plurality of nozzles into a conduit open at both ends to the atmosphere. The spray induces atmospheric air into the conduit in admixture with the water. The air cools the water by both sensibe and evaporative heat transfer. The air and water are separated at the downstream end of the conduit by means of curved liquid-air separator strips which intercept the water droplets and increase their gravity component so that the water flow down along the strips to a recovery sump below them.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,153 there is shown an inlet air stabilization slot in conjunction with an injector type cooling unit. However, this slot is primarily used for inlet air stabilization and is upstream of the pumping and pressurization effect of the nozzles. In this invention, however, the holes or slots provided in the conduit roof or sides are downstream of the pumping effect or pressure region of the sprays.